“Good morning, good morning, its time to rise and shine...” His brother sang to him as he danced over to the small window and pulled the red oriental dragon themed curtains aside and let the early spring light shine in Garrett’s eyes. The curtains didn’t really match the room’s blue and green motif, but that didn’t matter to the occupants of the apartment. If they liked something, it went up. No one in the house was an interior designer and it showed.
“Good morning, good morning. Wake up! Its breakfast time!” Gavin sang as he jumped over his own mattress of a bed and got right in Garrett’s face. Garrett just stared at him through heavy lidded eyes and blinked slowly.
“Breakfast!” Gavin shouted as he roughly ruffled Garrett’s mass of hair, then sprang out of the room like a cat with its tail on fire.
Garrett was sometimes convinced that his brother was actually some sort of science experiment gone awry and he had ended up with the results. One day Gavin could be a focused, thinking individual who you could carry on a normal conversation with, and the next day Gavin would be jumping around spouting stuff about black holes, dimensions, rare species of birds, what plants to eat if you were stranded in Guatemala, and even the effects of certain music on the brain. It was hard to keep up with him sometimes, and other times you almost felt sorry for him because you could see in his eyes that he had something really important figured out, but no one understood what he was talking about. But than Garrett thought, doesn’t everybody have that feeling?
Since Garrett couldn’t pretend he was still sleeping (or jump out the window) he decided his fate had come as he marched out into the main room to meet his doom. When he walked out, he had both good news and bad news. The bad news was that Colin was cooking. The good news was that no one was dead and the kitchen wasn’t on fire. Something was defiantly amiss with the picture. The sad truth was, as much as Colin loved to cook, and as often as he did it, he wasn’t that good. The only reason the guys let Colin cook was the fact that they weren’t any better. The reason Colin’s cooling bugged them so much was because Colin thought himself to be a good cook. No one told him otherwise because they didn’t want to hurt the big guy’s feelings.
Colin looked up from the stove and gave Garrett a grin. “Morning sunshine!” He said almost too cheerfully for someone at....eleven thirty in the morning. Garrett grunted his own good morning and sat down at the table. Adam looked up from the morning paper and took a drink of his coffee. “Did you see the news?” He asked Garrett after he put his coffee cup down next to his finished plate. Garrett stared at him and frowned. “Um....no. I’ve been in bed all morning. So I’m not really up to date with the world events as of yet.”
“Oh yeah…well here, take a look.” Adam said as he slid the paper to Garrett. Garrett unfolded it as he picked it up then read the headline: “Colin Learns to Cook. Friends and Family Amazed.” Which was actually black marker scribbled over the original headline, ‘Stockwell Day Starts New Alliance Campaign.’ Gavin who was leaning in over the table started snickering with Adam, and Garrett looked up from the paper with a grin on his face. “You guys have too much time on your hands.” He said as he shook his head at them. Adam took the paper back from him and smiled. “Well, aren’t you going to ask?” Adam asked Garrett after a moment. Garrett stared at him expressionless. “What?”
Adam rolled his eyes and leaned closer as he whispered, “If the headline is true or no dumbass.”
Garrett assumed he was whispering so Colin could not hear him even though he was deeply engrossed with the stove.. Garrett was about to ask him if the “headlines” were indeed true when a proud ‘Ta daa!’ was heard from the stove area. Colin quickly slid something from his frying pan onto a plate and he nimbly swept over to Garrett and sat it down in front of him with the grace a valor of a proud chef. Garrett looked down at what appeared to be a mass of eggs and other assorted objects which he assumed was supposed to be edible. He looked up at Colin who was beaming with pride. Garrett glanced at Adam who motioned to his clean plate and nodded. Could the headlines be true? Garrett looked down at Colin’s concoction and swore he saw something move. Realizing he was just being paranoid, he picked up his fork hesitantly and stabbed some of the mixture with it. He took a brief moment to reflect on his life before he shoved the fork into his mouth. The taste sensation that happened thereafter was unusual, mostly because it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, the more he chewed, the more he realized he liked it. A lot. He looked at a smiling Adam with a shocked expression on his face, then to Colin who was nervously hovering over him looking for his approval.
“Well, what do you think??” The chef asked.
“Colin, what is this? It’s...really good!” Garrett said as he shoved a larger piece into his mouth.
Colin’s grin broke out to his ears. “Really? You think so?” Garrett just nodded because no words would come out of his mouth as it was stuffed with food.
“Well, I thought I’d try something different. See, I guess I do make a lot of wacky things that just don’t work well. I wanted to do something a little simpler, so I made omelets!” Garrett nodded again, and spoke trying to keep everything in his mouth. “No kidding? Omelet eh?”
“Yeah, see, with omelets you can meet the requirements of the consumer.” Colin started in his best Important Chef voice. “See, I put tomatoes, cheese, and ham into Gavin’s, but no onions or bell peppers because he doesn’t like them. Potatoes, cheese...um...bell peppers, onion, and ham into Adams. His request mostly. Yours is the weirdest though.”
“How so?” Garrett asked, wondering if he really wanted to know. “Well, see...I know you don’t like pork so I thought a meat substitute might work. You got the usual vegetables, onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, AND potatoes because you like all of those, but instead of ham...I used some of your tofu.”
Garrett stopped chewing and looked thoughtful for a moment. “So, you say I’m eating a tofu...omelet.” Colin nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“Uh huh. Well, there’s only one thing to say to that...” Garrett said as he put his fork down. Colin looked dejected. “What’s that?” He asked.
“Could you show me how to make it when you’re not around?”
*********
After breakfast Garrett jumped into the shower, and when he reemerged his brother had already left for his tutoring job. Wednesdays were one of those days when everyone’s schedule seemed to conflict with everyone else. Adam and Garrett didn’t have to work that day, but Gavin did in the early afternoon, and Colin worked in the evenings at the Brasserie Aix restaurant as a head waiter, and occasionally bar tender.
Garrett looked around the apartment and finally came to the conclusion that everyone had gone somewhere. He looked at the marker board on the fridge and spotted a newly scribbled note, next to an old one that said, “Someone PLEASE clean the freezer!” The latest note was in Adam’s oddly proper handwriting that informed Garrett that he and Colin had decided to run down to Steve’s Music shop. For what, Garrett couldn’t imagine. Adam already had one of the swankiest electric basses in Toronto (next to Chris Gartner; former Look Person, and current Thin Buckler who had the same style bass.) And Garrett could only imagine what kind of trouble Colin could get into. With Colin, if it had to do with guitars....he wanted it. Or at least play with it for an hour or two. Garrett wouldn’t be surprised if Colin came home with a new effect or book or a strange pick. Except, if Garrett remembered correctly Colin was trying desperately to save money to buy his dream guitar a Steinberger. Garrett thought they were ugly things, but he also knew that looks were deceiving. Despite the fact the odd looking guitar was tiny, and headless, it was one of the niftiest guitars a musician could own. Garrett also knew another reason why Colin wanted one: his musical idol Martin Tielli played one, so therefore Colin had to get one. It was just that simple. Still, the big guy already owned three guitars. One old acoustic that used to belong to Colin’s brother Dylan, his first electric (a brown sunburst Epiphone) and his current love, a black full force Gibson Les Paul. But Colin, try as he might, couldn’t get the sound he wanted from either of his electrics so he decided to save up for a Steinberger.
Garrett was thinking of looking at new guitars, but since he wasn’t a riff master or as good as Colin, he wasn’t too worried about it. His used red sunburst Gibson and Takamine acoustic worked just fine for a rhythm guitarist.
Garrett realizing he had an entire apartment to himself decided to make the most of the quietness. He pulled out his bamboo mat and took it outside onto the balcony. He pushed Colin’s eyesore of a hammock out the way and rolled his mat out. He decided to leave the glass slider door open and let the breeze blow in. Garrett stood on his mat and threw his shirt off to the side. He contemplated where to start. He hadn’t done Yoga all winter, but since it was spring, he felt the need to be outside doing something active. As he faced the south and let the sun warm his face, Garrett stood lithe facing the sky in the first step of the Warrior position. He’d get to the more awkward positions in time, but since he hadn’t done serious stretching in a while he decided to take it easy. He slowly and fluidly faced the sun as the pose started to look more like a warrior. He was working on standing on one foot while leaning forward with his other leg high up in the air behind him when he heard the phone ringing inside. He was considering not answering it, but the phone was usually someone important. Garrett spun on his heel and leapt inside the house and caught the phone on the fifth ring.
“Hello?” Garrett answered. “Hi Garrett!” A female voice cheerfully returned. Garrett smiled. It was his best friend Elaina. “Hey ‘Laine, what’s up?”
“Oh, nothing much. I was just wondering if you wanted to get back into Wednesday’s tradition now that the weather has started to warm.” She said.
“Of course I would, winters seem ten times longer just because we can’t sit outside.”
“Well, we could but....” Elaina interrupted at the right spot.
“…Our bums would freeze off, along with other extremities we might want to use in the future.” Garrett finished. Elaina laughed on the other end. “Do I even want to know what extremities you’re talking about?” Garrett paused. “You know, sometimes I believe you think the same way as Col and Adam.” Garrett said defensively. Elaina laughed again and ignored him. “So, today’s Wednesday. What do you say? Three o’clock?” She asked. Garrett looked at the clock. It wasn’t quite one o’ clock yet. “Sure, sounds great. ‘.Sides, I have some interesting news for you that will shock you beyond belief.”
“Good or bad?” Elaina asked with a twinge of worry in her voice.
“Good.” Garrett responded.
“All right, can’t wait. Be there, or be square!” She ended.
Elaina Kole was the only friend from high school Garrett still spoke to. She was smart, sassy, talented, a good listener, and more importantly the one person Garrett could tell anything to. Garrett had met her in his 10th year in High School. His best friend at the time, Ray Aandal was seeing Elaina, so he got to know her through him. Ray and Garrett used to be two peas in a pod, and were often seen together before and after school jamming on their guitars. Both loved musical oddities, had a similar intelligence, sense of humor, everything.
It was their first year after high school when Garrett noticed that his best friend was changing, and he wasn’t sure it was for the better. Ray had gone off to college and had found a group of guys to hang around with. They visited bars often, introduced him to loud accepted music, late nights, and college women. One night Ray visited Garrett while intoxicated, and in his drunk ramblings he let it spill that he had been seeing another girl behind Elaina’s back for nearly a year. He said he was playing a little game to see how long it would take her to find out. Garrett was so uncharacteristically furious he had picked him up off the floor and slammed him against the wall and told him if he didn’t tell Elaina the truth he’d personally see to it that his life was made a living hell. A week later Elaina called and said that Ray had told her everything. Garrett asked how she was, and she claimed to be doing fine. Garrett wasn’t sure if he should believe her. She also mentioned that Ray had said that he didn’t really know why he had held onto her for so long. At that point Garrett thought he could hear her trying to hold back tears. Garrett felt horrible for telling Ray to tell her the truth, and had wished he had thought of another way to break it to her.
After that incident, all ties were broken completely broken between Garrett and Ray. All ties except for Elaina. They had developed quite the friendship over the three years, and it had continued strongly to this day.
Garrett returned to his yoga and completed the warrior pose, then after completing a few other poses, he moved up to the more difficult pose The Scorpion. The scorpion position was supposed to be the curved tail of the scorpion. A person had to be able to rest on their forearms, while bending the rest of their body above them so that their feet might touch the back of their head behind them. Garret got to the last part, but stopped there when he lost his concentration and fell over, hitting his knee cap on the metal contraption that held Colin’s hammock. Trying hard not to curse, he convinced himself it didn’t hurt as he walked it off.
2:15 rolled in and Garrett pulled on an old brightly colored button up shirt and put his black shoes on. He was about to leave when he remembered to leave a note on the marker board for the guys if they ever returned. With Elaina. Back later. He grabbed his yellow fedora on the way out and locked the door. Garrett wove his way through the city on buses, ending at last on the Islington South 110 streetcar that would take him to Cliff Lumsdon Park.
He got off the streetcar and walked over near the water’s edge of Lake Ontario. The afternoon sun shining down caused the great lake to look like someone had strewn millions of diamonds across the surface of the water where they glimmered brightly. He climbed a short hill and sat underneath one of the sparse maples that grew there. He glanced at his watch and saw that he was about fifteen minutes early, so he stretched out on the new grass and watched the clouds play across the bright blue sky before him through the twinkling newborn leaves. If Gavin had been with him, he could have told him what kinds of birds were singing for him. He liked trivial things, but he left the nature stuff up to his brother. He must have closed his eyes and dozed off, because he was rudely awakened by someone holding his mouth and nose shut. He smacked the hands away from his face and stared at the evil doer. It was none other than Elaina who had a huge devilish grin on her face.
“I’ve always wanted to do that. Just to see what would happen.” She said still smiling. Garrett shook his head trying to clear away the drop in his circadian rhythm. “Been here long I take it?” She asked. Garrett looked at his watch. Three ten. “Nope, got here ‘bout twenty minutes ago, I didn’t mean to doze off.” Elaina sat down next to him as he sat up. “Maybe if you had the sleeping pattern of a normal human being...” She said staring out at the water and the edge of the city that crept out before them. Garrett gave her a look. “Well perhaps if you got up at five every morning and worked till three in the afternoon for two and a half years, well… your sleep patterns would be a little odd too.” He contended. Elaina snickered. “Sure, sure, make up excuses for your laziness.” Garrett scoffed at her, and then hit her in the arm lightly as he grinning a bit. She smiled ignoring him and continued glancing around. The breeze Garrett felt at his apartment continued to blow here, and it was blowing both of their hair into their faces. Granted Elaina had more hair to worry about, but at least she could tie it back.
She was a cute girl, a little less then a year younger then Garrett, with long wavy chestnut coloured hair with two small braids on either side of her face pulled back behind her ears. Her face was long, rounded, yet she had a prominent jaw line. Her face was complemented with a few freckles that went well with her bright hazel eyes. Her red jacket and yellow sweater worked well with her autumnal looks.
“So, what’s the big news?” She asked after a while. Garrett looked puzzled for a moment, trying to remember what she was talking about.
“Big news? Oh yeah! Of course. Well, you’ll never believe this, but I’m lucky to be alive today.” Elaina stared at him in shock. “Alive? What do you mean?” Garrett grinned evilly. “Meaning...I ate Colin’s cooking. All of it.” Elaina got the joke at this point and joined in. “Oh my god! How?”
“See, and this is the big news; he made something that tasted good.” Garrett said deadpan. Elaina threw both hands up to her face in mock horror. “Good? Oh my god! Colin?” Garrett was chuckling to himself at this point in their conversation. “Yeah, in all seriousness he made a breakfast that tasted good. Nothing too weird. Granted he put tofu in my omelet, but besides that...”
“Huh. A tofu omelet eh?” Elaina asked not sure if she should believe it. “AND it tasted good.” She added to clarify.
“Yeah, it was good.” Garrett added, smiling at how ridiculous this conversation was, and yet how entertaining it was at the same time. Elaina smiled. “Well good, maybe he’ll continue to get better, and he’ll be the master chef he’s always wanted to be.” Garrett threw her a cautioning glance. “...that is AFTER the band gets on its feet.” She added quickly. Garrett approved by nodding.
A boat in the harbor a ways away blew its whistle and both looked over curiously. It was just leaving the harbour apparently.
“So anything new on your mind?” Elaina asked. Garrett thought for a moment and then shrugged. “No, not really. Just thinking about how to get the band going. You?” She shrugged a negative as well. “No, not really. Well, I’ve been thinking about doing an exchange program…you know…study art somewhere.”
“Leave Toronto?”
“Not forever. Just for a bit. You could come visit.”
“That’d be cool. You should do it.”
“Yeah…I just might. You guys could come over and tour too. You guys might be a big hit in a foreign country.” She added with a wink. Garrett laughed.
A while passed by and no one said anything. The fresh spring weather was too spectacular to ignore.
“Say...your birthday is coming up....you’re going to be what again? Over the hill?” Elaina asked. Garrett grinned, amazed that anyone remembered his birthday. “Yep. I’m an old man. Pretty soon....I retire.” Elaina giggled a bit. “So...what do you want?” She asked. Garrett brushed it off as though his birthday was nothing important. “Oh, I don’t need anything. But seeing on how you’ll insist....I...honestly don’t know. Surprise me. But it’s far away, so I wouldn’t be worrying about it yet.” Elaina blinked. “Garrett, it’s two weeks away.” Garrett’s face went blank for a moment as he counted the days. “Wow, you’re right. Those suckers sure sneak up on ya, eh?” Elaina nodded.
They stayed in the park chatting about odd things for another hour until they got the urge to do something else. Both boarded a bus and decided to wander around downtown and see if anything interesting was going on. They walked around downtown until Elaina pointed out a tavern that was hosting a few bands that evening. Not one to turn down music Garrett agreed. Despite the fact it was a tavern, he knew neither he nor Elaina would be drinking much. He’d join Colin and Adam for a drink every once in a while, but for the most part he didn’t do it to gain pleasure, and he knew Elaina was the same way.
They entered the Tavern, ID’s ready and they took a seat near the front. “You know, you should enter your band in the Battle of the Bands next week at my school.” Elaina said to Garrett over the din. “A battle next week? We might have our newer songs down by then. Crap. We so need a drummer…”
Elaina was about to go into more detail, but some guy came out onto the stage area and announced that the first band was ready. Garrett and Elaina gave their undivided attention to the first band, and both were incredibly shocked when they saw who took the lead position.
Garrett was furious all over again.
END PART I
Part II
Elaina was taken aback. She looked over to Garrett to see if he had even noticed that Ray Aardal was on stage. Garrett had clenched his fists and was glaring at the guitarist on stage. He made a move to get up, but Elaina put a hand in his shoulder. “Garrett, it’ll be ok.” She said trying to calm him down. She wasn’t too pleased to see him either, but she was more willing to forget the past then Garrett was. Garrett looked at her non-too happy. “What?? I should knock his lights out.” Elaina shook her head. “No Garr, he hasn’t done anything wrong here. And you should know better, I thought Hwa Rang Do taught you better then that.” Garrett sat down and calmed down a bit as Ray took the microphone and other musicians took up the stage with him. Garrett recognized one: “The Amazing” Jeff Morgatroyd, an up and coming bassist, who was slowly making his mark in new Toronto Rock. That made him even angrier, only because Ray had someone who already infamous in his band.
“Hey west side TO! You guys ready to rock?” Ray howled trying to rile the crowd up a bit. People applauded and a few guys who already had too much beer shouted at him, encouraging him to keep it coming. “We’d like to thank you freaks for coming out here and supporting Rock! We’re the Rare Mongrels, and we’re going rock this place like no ones fuckin business! Take off!”
The band started hammering away at their instruments while Ray jumped around stage a bit, his smooth black hair catching the stage lights, all the while wailing away on his own white Stratocaster guitar. He then took the mike again and started singing into it with the expected “intense musician” look on his face. Some girls were joining near the base of the small stage, moving to the beat, and discussing whether the band was cute or not.
Garrett scowled the whole time. Elaina was more worried about Garrett than about Ray. Garrett looked at her, a bit of anger still evident in his eyes. “Aren’t you mad at all?”
She gave a disapproving look. “A little. But I’m over it. I’ve been over it for a long time.” She said as emotionlessly as possible. She continued stareing at the stage with an unreadable expression in her face. Garrett tried to read her but he couldn’t for the life of him. Perhaps she really was over it all and he admired her for her strength because he still felt betrayed by his ex-best friend.
He wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he sat quietly throughout the rest of the Mongrels’ gig. He was more than happy to welcome the next band, even though he knew of them, and didn’t really care for their music. Elaina turned to Garrett with an overacted smile on her face. “Well, they were good. Don’t you think?” Garrett raised an eyebrow at her, confused on how she could be so cheerful considering her cheating ex-boyfriend was just singing. He thought about it and realized that perhaps it was Elaina’s way of coping with the situation; pretending everything was all right. Either that or she didn’t like conflict, and he knew she didn’t. Another thought crossed his mind as he wondered if Elaina had ever really gotten over what had happened. It was kind of a big deal when your “significant other” of two and a half years cheated on you for nearly half that time. Or perhaps he was just reading too much into things again. Garrett let it slide for the time being, as he relaxed a bit and watched the rest of the bands play. After a few hours of loud mediocre music the two decided it was time to leave.
They walked out the doors past the bouncer without talking or looking at each other. The streets were slowly growing dark and a few lights had already come on to light the way for the busy Queen street goers. They made it about halfway down the block when they heard their names being called from behind them. Garrett swallowed hard when he recognized the voice. Both turned around slowly and saw Ray running towards them.
“Wait! Hold on!” He shouted as he made it up to them. He stopped before them, barely out of breath with an excited look on his short sharp face. “I thought I saw you two in the audience tonight! Wow, so how are you two doing? Still friends I see!” Garrett stared at him in disbelief. Elaina only stared at the ground. He had some nerve talking to them after what he did, unless his way of dealing with the past was also trying to forget it. No wonder Elaina and he had gotten along for so long. Nonetheless, Garrett could not forget so easily. “Ray, you’ve got some balls.” Some of Garrett’s anger from before crept into his voice involuntarily. Ray’s face dropped a notch. It seemed as though he was hoping Garrett and Elaina would have forgotten what had happened, or at least let by gones be by gones. His face contorted and Garrett could tell he was trying to find a new approach to the situation.
To Garrett, Ray had changed a bit in apperance. His hair was a bit shorter then it was from high school, his face had sharpened a bit more, and both his ears were pierced with disks that actually put a holes in his ears. It looked rather painfull.
When an attempt to change his appraoch failed Ray sighed and looked at both of them. Or Garrett at least, because Elaina still wasn’t looking at him. “Look....about...what happened a few years ago...I’m sorry. It was stupid. I was stupid. I was really excited to see you guys tonight because I thought perhaps we could work things out.” Garrett was feeling angry again, but remembered his training and calmed down. “Ray, I’m not sure if it can be worked out. What you did....” Garrett strained to find the right words, but came up short. Ray understood however. “Look, I know what I did was really really really stupid. But I’ve changed, and I’d like a second chance. Or at least some time to talk. A chance to really apologize at least.” Garrett thought for a second, and was considering his words, but Elaina finally looked up at him. “I’d appreciate it if you’d just walk away right now.” She said unsteadily. Ray looked dispirited, and gave Garrett a questionable glance. Garrett was almost ready to see what he had to say, but he wasn’t going to ignore Elaina’s request so he gave a short nod. Ray nodded slowly in understanding. “Ok than, well....have a great evening you two.” he turned and slouched back to the tavern slowly.
Garrett and Elaina continued back down the darkening street. Garrett glanced at Elaina every once in a while to see if he could read the expression on her face. Every time it appeared she was lost in her own world, but she appeared much more upset then she did inside. He didn’t like it when things unsettled her, because she was much more different then her usual lighthearted self. The look on her face made Garrett’s stomach fall, so he did the only thing he could think of to comfort her by wrapping an arm around her in a platonic fashion. She didn’t object but she bit her lip in an effort not to suddenly cry. Garrett bit his own lip because he had a feeling she needed to cry off some pent up emotions, but somehow the middle of a busy sidewalk didn’t seem like the best place for this. She looked up at him with glistening eyes and he wasn’t sure of what to say. He fumbled for words, but it was too late, perhaps for the better. Elaina buried her face in Garrett’s shoulder as a wave of previously unshed tears rushed out.
“Garrett....I’m so sorry...I don’t want to cry...” She apologized in muffled sobs. Garrett hushed her. “It’s all right. Just get it out.” He had never seen her cry before, and it was a slightly unsettling experience but he thought it might do her some good.
“He was such a....what he did to me...the jerk!” Elaina sobbed harder. Garrett patted her back reassuringly.
“The nerve of him. Thinking he’s changed. He’ll never change. I...I...I hate him! The bastard...” Although Garrett was glad she was finally accepting the past, he wondered if Ray may have actually changed.
“I know, I know...but perhaps he did change? Shouldn’t we give him another chance?” He said as soothingly as possible. Elaina shook her head vigorously although it was still buried in his chest. “I don’t want anything to do with him again!” she wailed into his chest. Garrett sighed. “I know, I just thought that perhaps...” Elaina looked up and snapped back. “What? What is it? You want to give him another chance, is that it? I thought you were mad at him? Which one is it?” Garrett stared at her shocked. “I’m just saying, maybe he did change...if he didn’t...well, so be it...the bastard will never learn. But what if he did?” Elaina scoffed at him, and wiped away as many tears as she could with her jacket sleeve. “I get it...you two were always the best of friends. Of course you’d want to see if he’s back. Well, go on! See if he is! But I don’t want anything to do with that bastard son of a bitch!” She yelled with so much intensity Garrett took a step back. Elaina looked at the hurt expression on Garrett’s face and stopped.
“Elaina...I was...just...” Garrett started again, but Elaina cut him off with her hand as she started walking away. “Garrett....I just need to be alone right now.” She said not looking back at him.
“Can’t I at least walk you home?” He asked. Garrett saw her shake her head as her chestnut hair fluttered behind her and she hurried down the street. People were throwing her sideways glances along the way and Garrett looked around and saw that even he had drawn a few stares. He ignored them and watched as Elaina boarded a bus that headed towards her side of town.
It was dark by the time Garrett returned home after wandering aimlessly, lost in his own thoughts. Although it was spring, the sun still had a ways to go before it would be setting at ten instead of eight thirty. As he walked in the door he was greeted by Gavin and Adam jamming away on their respective instruments. Colin was gone, obviously at his job. Both stopped and looked up at him as he walked in. Gavin was about to yell a hello until he saw the look on his brother’s face. “What happened?” He asked instead. Garrett stood in the kitchen area by the door not really feeling like explaining everything. However he felt as though he should at least give his brother a clue. “We saw Ray.” He said as he took off his shoes and walked over and through the beaded doorway of his room. Gavin grimaced, and Adam gave him a quizzical look. “Ray?” Adam asked. Gavin shook his head. “You don’t want to know.” Gavin was about to go see to his brother but Adam stopped him. “Try me.” Adam said. Gavin sighed. “Ray used to be Garrett’s best friend back in high school. Garrett met Elaina through Ray because the two of them were dating at them time. After high school Ray went to college and became a bitch. He came to our apartment one night while drunk and told Garrett he was seeing another girl behind Elaina’s back and he seemed to be quite proud of it. Need more be said?” Adam flinched. “Ouch. That’s not cool. Even I wouldn’t do that.” Gavin nodded. “I know.”
Gavin pushed his way through the beaded curtain and sat on the hardwood floor next to Garrett’s mattress of a bed where Garrett lay underneath the sheets with his head buried underneath his pillow. “Go away.” He mumbled through the fabric. “What happened? Did Elaina go home?” Gavin asked concerned. Garrett shuffled under the covers. “Yes. She went home.” Gavin cocked his head to the side like a bird. “Something else happened.” He said, more then asked. Garrett turned over on his bed and stared at the cracks in the ceiling and sighed. “Yeah....I think so. I’m not sure I understand.” Gavin pulled out an imaginary pad of paper and a pencil. “So, tell me about it.” and he pretended to take down notes. Garrett smiled weakly. “Ok, get this doc. We go to this band event, Ray walks out with the first band. I’m angry as all get out, Elaine seems to be fine. We walk out later, Ray runs up to us and says hello like nothings happened. I tell him he’s got balls to do that, and he says he’s changed and he wants another chance. I was almost convinced, but than ‘Llaine tells him to leave out of the blue. So he does. We’re walking back down the street and ‘Llaine’s not looking so good, and then she starts crying. Then she says she hates him, and never wants to see him again. I say maybe we should give him another chance....and then....that’s where I don’t understand what happened. She yells at me, then she left.” Gavin stared at him with wide confused eyes, and just blinked. Garrett looked at him. “Well? You’re the smart one.” Gavin shrugged. “Maybe so, but women are another topic altogether for me. A topic I don’t seem to understand.” Garrett sighed in frustration. “You’re no help.”
“Give her some time to herself.” Adam said from the doorway. Both brothers gave him a look that said ‘like you know anything about women!’
“It’s obvious she’s confused about this whole thing. If you leave her alone for a while, she’ll get it straightened out.” Both brothers continued staring at Adam as though he was an alien. Adam sighed, understanding the look. “Look, I half raised my little sister. You kinda figure these things out. Oh, and in case you’re wondering Garr it wasn’t your fault, and I don’t think she’s mad at you.” Garrett appeared slightly relieved. He couldn’t imagine having Elaina mad at him.
“Unless...” Adam started. Garrett appeared worried again. “What did you do when she started crying? A lot of guys mess up in that area.” Garrett panicked as he tried to recall what he did. “I...um....tried to comfort her.”
“How?”
“I...had my arm around her...I couldn’t think of anything to say....” Adam clapped his hands excitedly. “You’re a genius!” Garrett cocked his head to the side much like his brother had.
“Huh?”
“Don’t you see? Most of us guys mess up everything by talking. Way to go!” Garrett frowned at him. “Then I did mess up, because she didn’t get mad until I suggested we gave Ray another chance.” Adam shrugged. “Eh, well...yeah. You kinda did. But she’s also confused at this point. Um, wait and see what she’s like in a few days.”
“A few days? Shouldn’t I call her?”
Adam waved his hands in the “no” fashion. “Wrong. No, don’t go there. You’ll wait a few days. See if she contacts you. If she doesn’t for a few more days...then you call.”
“Are these rules in a book somewhere that I can buy?” Gavin chimed in. Adam shook his head. “Nope nerd, you gotta learn these things the hard way.” Gavin frowned at Adam and was about to dispute the name calling but Garrett interrupted. “If you’re so smart about women, how come they can’t stand you, eh?” Garrett asked suspiciously. Adam suddenly appeared distracted. “Oh...I’d love to answer that...but...I have to go clip my toenails and water Colin’s plants before they eat him. Bye!” And with that he walked out of the room whistling to himself. Garrett and Gavin looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
That night Garrett tossed and turned sleeplessly. Was Adam right for once? Was it really not his fault? Was Elaina mad at him, or wasn’t she? And should he give Ray another chance? These thoughts raced through his mind most of the night. Even when he finally did fall asleep his dreams were haunted by Elaina yelling at him, and Ray begging him to give him a chance. For some reason they were doing this while Garrett was trying to swim out of a raging river before he got sucked down a drainage pipe. He woke up with a start when the current won and he was engulfed by the full force of the river and he couldn’t breath.
He awoke breathing heavily and he felt sweaty as his eyes darted around the room in disorientation. Sunlight was shining on the walls. It was morning, and from the sound of it everyone was already up. He looked at his alarm clock on his soap box. 12:36 already. He had no clue that he had actually slept that long. He got up and meandered into the living space. Gavin looked up at him from the ugly green couch as he walked in. “Oh good you’re up.” Garrett nodded his good morning as he walked past Gavin to the bathroom to take a shower.
The rest of the day was edgy for everyone, even Colin who was informed about what had happened. Garrett did his best to appear to be normal, and everyone else did their best not to upset that. They even jammed for a few hours, and got a newer song down pretty well. But no one even joked when Garrett’s voice went flat for a couple of songs which would normally evoke some sort of response from someone. Garrett was starting to get annoyed when no one even seemed to notice he was playing the entirely wrong chords for a certain song–on purpose of course. That’s when he stopped playing and insisted he was fine by yelling loudly. Everyone else just looked at each other knowingly.
At the end of the day when everyone was trying to figure out what Colin had made for dinner (which still interestingly enough, didn’t taste bad) the boys were cut short of their guessing game when the phone rang. Everyone looked at each other, except for Garrett, who continued prodding his food with his chopsticks, (Colin had insisted that the food was oriental.) and ignoring the phone.
“Well...could be anyone.” Colin said into the silence after the fourth ring as he got up and answered the wall phone. He greeted the caller, then told them to hang on. He held the speaking end and looked at Garrett. “Garrett...its for you.”
“Who is it.”
“...Elaina.”
There was silence.
“Is she mad at me.” Garrett asked finally. Colin spoke into the phone again. “He wants to know if you’re mad at him. Uh huh... Garrett...she says she wants to talk to you.”
Garrett breathed deeply and he slowly got up and drifted over to Colin. Colin gave him the phone, and he took a second before speaking. “Hello.”
“Garrett?”
“Hi.”
“Garrett...about last night. I’m not mad at you. In fact I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. In fact, I didn’t mean to yell...” Elaina said sounding exasperated with herself.
“Elaina, it’s ok. I think I understand. You were feeling the exact opposite of what I was saying. I wasn’t thinking I guess.”
“No Garrett...you were right...I think...maybe...”
“We’re talking about Ray changing right?”
“Yeah. Look, if you don’t mind...I’m not in the mood to speak to him right now. But that doesn’t mean you can’t.”
Garrett stopped for a moment. He had basically broken all ties with Ray because of what he did to Elaina, and for the fact that Ray was turning into something Garrett wasn’t sure he wanted to be friends with. But it was mostly for Elaina’s sake, and now she was saying she didn’t care if he spoke to him again.
“Elaina, how about this; I’ll speak with Ray. See if he’s really changed. If I think he has...will you...”
“We’ll see.” Elaina said cutting him short of his thought.
They finished up their brief conversation, and Garrett turned to the group who had been staring at him but they quickly went back to their food.
“Adam, you’re fired.” Garrett said flatly. Adam looked up with a “who me?” look on his face. “What’d I do?” he asked.
“You said it would be a few days before she called.”
Adam smiled slyly. “Your friend is quick then.” Garrett slowly returned the smile. “I generally pride myself in having quick friends...but for you I made an exception.” It took Adam a second to realize he was being insulted. He quickly feigned being hurt and told Garrett where to go.
************
The next week, Garrett waited in an older coffee shop he and Ray used to play guitar in when they were supposed to be in school. It was located close to where he used to live, and thusly closer to their old high school. On time, Ray sauntered in, coat in hand, and sat down at Garrett’s table that was also holding up Garrett’s infamous yellow hat. Garrett slowly sipped his cappuccino and eyed Ray who appeared nervous. “Aren’t you going to get one?” Garrett asked after a moment, lifting up his coffee to indicate what he was talking about. Ray shook his head. “Naw, had two cups of coffee this morning. I don’t need any more caffeine.” Garrett nodded in understanding. After a moment’s silence, Ray sighed and pushed his squared rim glasses up higher on his sharp nose. “I can see now that I changed three years ago. My advice? Don’t go to college expecting to fit in, ya know?. I made bad decisions, and I hung out with the wrong crowd. It wasn’t really ‘me’ back then. Well, I accepted it so I guess it became ‘me’. But now I see that I liked the old ‘me’ better. Do you get what I’m saying?” Garrett nodded a bit, still interested in his coffee.
“I’m sorry about what happened to our friendship. I became brainwashed by everyone there. Well, not everyone...but the people who accepted me anyway.” Ray looked down at the table, ashamed to go on. Garrett’s expression softened a bit. “I should have said more. But I thought it was just a phase.” He said finally looking at Ray fully.
“Don’t blame yourself. I doubt that I would have listened anyway. Not that I didn’t listen to you, it’s just that I didn’t listen to anyone but my new ‘friends’ at the time. But I’m changing my ways. I met better friends. In fact, they’re my band. I don’t talk to the others anymore. Half of them dropped out or failed anyway.”
“And you’re old habits?” Garrett asked coolly.
Ray sighed. “I only drink on occasion...not nearly as much as I did. In fact...that’s half the reason I started thinking.” Ray glanced down again and fiddled with his jacket sleeve, as if he was wasn’t sure how to go on.
“Dude...I nearly died.”
Garrett’s eyes widened as he stared at him. “What?”
“I was at a party, and we were playing a drinking game. Everyone else was passed out already, so it was just me and this other guy. Well, needless to say I won the game because I passed out last. But when I didn’t wake up for a few hours, someone got smart and called the hospital. My blood alcohol level was way lethal and I have no idea what they had to do to keep me around.” Garrett stared at Ray in complete shock, unaware of just how bad he had become. “Wow....that was really stupid.” Was all Garrett could muster.
“I know. But that’s when I really started thinking. And when I went to the next party and refused to drink… and my so-called friends didn’t hang with me...I knew something needed to change.”
“When did all this happen?” Garrett asked in awe. Ray looked ashamed. “Half a year ago.”
“Pretty intuitive for such a short period of time.” Garrett complemented. Ray smiled weakly. Another moment passed in silence, and Garrett blankly watched patrons coming in and out, lost in his own thoughts as usual.
“Garrett, about what happened three years ago...with Elaina...you have no idea how badly I feel about what I did to her.”
“Probably not half as badly as she feels.” Garrett said into his coffee.
“Look, I know I will never be able to make it up to her...and I don’t expect her to forgive me. I know if I was in her place I don’t think I would. But do you think she’ll at least give me a chance to say that I’m sorry?”
Garrett looked at him for a moment, then looked at the newest patron who was walking in slowly. “Why don’t you find out right now.” He said staring past Ray.
Ray looked at Garrett confused, then traced Garrett’s line of sight behind him. Elaina had just walked in and was standing behind him.
“You have changed haven’t you?” She asked him slowly. Ray still appeared confused, and looked at Garrett. “What’s going on?” Garrett smiled and lifted his yellow hat from the table. Beneath it lay a cell phone that was currently dialed to someone. Ray turned around and Elaina held up the other phone. “My roommate lent me hers, and one of Garrett’s let him use his.” She explained, impressed with Garrett’s idea of compromising.
“So you heard everything?” Ray asked her. She sat down at the side of the table and nodded. Garrett nudged in. “Well, got something to say Ray?” He encouraged. Ray took the hint and slowly looked Elaina in the eyes. At least she was looking at him now.
“Elaina...I’m sorry about what I did. I feel like…the muck at the bottom of the lakes. I feel like I should be forced to live in Nunavut without a coat…or Newfoundland without a translator… But what I feel doesn’t matter. It was wrong for me to cheat on you. And it was even more wrong for me to try to make myself feel bigger by telling you I enjoyed what I did, and then telling you I never cared for you.” Elaina looked down as her eyes grew misty again, but she forced herself to look back at him. He continued. “To be truthful...and I mean it...you are the best girl I have ever known. And I kick myself for taking advantage of you. I’m sorry.” Either Ray was a good actor, or perhaps he had something in his eye, but Garrett could have sworn he saw a tear run down his face. Than looking at Elaina, he knew he saw tears. Elaina quickly wiped them away and looked back to Ray.
“Ray....you’re right. What you did was wrong. When it happened all I could do to save myself was to pretend it never happened...that I had never known you. That’s how badly you hurt me. And until the other day that all seemed to work. But then I realized that I needed to deal with it. And I think I have now. Thanks.” Ray smiled weakly, then got up when he didn’t expect anything more from either her or Garrett. “We’ll, I’ll be off now. I’m glad I got that off my chest. Perhaps I’ll see you two around...” Ray was going for his coat when Elaina stopped him. “Ray, I’m not sure I can ever forgive you one hundred percent...but as of right now...you’re ok in my book. And I hope you continue the route you’re on now.” Ray smiled, and nodded at her. He was about to leave again, when Garrett sighed heavily. “Ray...?” Ray turned around again. Garrett nodded his head slightly. “Me too.” Ray’s smiled increased. “So...we’re all on good terms?” He asked. Garrett looked to Elaina, who looked back and nodded. “Better terms.”
“That’s good enough for me” Ray said. “Hey, maybe we should all do something some day...for old times sake” He suggested hopefully. Garrett approved. “Yeah...sure. Maybe we could jam or something.”
“You still play?” Ray asked.
“Are you kidding? He’s the leader of a band now.” Elaina smirked.
“No kidding! A band eh? Obviously haven’t seen you yet. Uh oh, guess we’re kinda competing eh?”
Garrett grinned toothily. “No competition here.”
“Well yeah...hey! Hold on, we’re good! You going to the band bash next week? We’ll find out there! So...take off!”
“Be prepared to be blown out of the water...hoser.”
“You two...knock it off...” Elaina said with a faint smile.
sEE YOu jaM JuNKies....